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Well, it seems the back and forth of N54 tuning horsepower records is over... for now. Earlier this month Vargas Turbo Tech and Pro Tuning Freaks (with a Cobb flash) set the N54 hosrepower record at 693 wheel horsepower. That basically obliterated what anyone else had hit on this platform. A competing tuner with a single turbo (the Vargas VTX63 upgrade consists of twin turbos) N54 upgrade kit out of nowhere pulled out suspect numbers that eeked out a few more wheel horsepower.

This became an ego pissing match of sorts but Vargas and Pro Tuning Freaks went back to the dyno to make some adjustments and managed to surprisingly quickly and easily take the horsepower record right back (and where it rightfully belongs due to the breakthrough being thanks to the Vargas work with the High Pressure Fuel Pump) with a 725 wheel horsepower pull.

A video is included below along with two graphs. The E92 335i is equipped with a Pro Tuning Freaks pro tuning using the Cobb flash system, 109 octane race gas, meth injection, and of course the Vargas Turbo Technologies VTX-R 63 (GTX2863R) twin turbo upgrade and HPFP upgrade.

Congratulations to Vargas, PTF, and Cobb for pushing the platform into new territory.

You'll prob only get Shiv's 1/4 slip... MAYBE Captain Insano's, but I don't see too many other people with the ST kit being vocal about the performance "gains". The kit has turned out to be nothing more than a marketing tool with impressive dyno sheets.

Well I made the thread. I really would like to know what customer STs are putting down. I am not trying to troll...I have a feeling the responses will be interesting.

the 7" FMICs on most of these cars are overkill for the stock turbo power levels we are pushing and should be adequate for these 700 whp applications.

Yeah, people told me my 7" FMIC was overkill. They also told me the FX850 twin-disc kevlar/ceramic clutch was unnecessary.

But I knew it was only a matter of time before someone released a well-engineered kit with real power... and I'm so glad it was Vargas & Dzenno because these guys actually share my passion for cars, rather than just trying to capitalize on it. Awesome job, guys!

... I look at 60-130 runs as a cop-out - IMO - for cars that cannot hook in the 1/4 mile so I ignore those numbers. However, I realize that I am biased to the 1320 footer and an old fart...

I'm with you 100% on that + repped. I know 1/4mi isn't for everyone but there's a reason why stangs and other such 1/4mi bruisers rarely show up at roll-on events.

And I had to lol at the shiv SS video thread on e90poop where I think it was Capt Insano's car went up against a "FBO Mustang" and beat up on it. Like a 600+WHP heavily modded car should be racing a 400WHP car with an exhaust+tune in a highlight video to begin with. If a real turbo or supercharged stang showed up it would rip the paint off that car going by it.

As you said, let's see the customer cars. If customers really start laying down wide, 700+WHP powerbands that's going to be quite a bit faster than just 130mph.

The worst part of these rolling races is all the bull$#@! that goes along with them. Bad starts, missing gears, heat soak, traction control kicked in, the list of excuses goes on and on. ET and MPH in 1/4 mile run rein supreme.

The worst part of these rolling races is all the bull$#@! that goes along with them. Bad starts, missing gears, heat soak, traction control kicked in, the list of excuses goes on and on. ET and MPH in 1/4 mile run rein supreme.

+1 and 60-130 is another test that really compares the cars and setup and reduces the impact of the driver variable.

while I like and agree that the 1/4 mile is a great test of vehicle's performance... it too has very very many variables involved. Tires, temp, humidity, DA, launch capability, driver ability, tire pressure and so forth, so forth. With that being said, I think 1/4 mile trap times are about the most reliable indicators of a vehicle's performance, especially if two vehicles go back to the same track. 60-130 is really sketchy because gearing and what speed you start with seems to alter the results greatly. At the same time, this is not and will never be a daily driven 10 second car... as @mithiral67 said at one point... a 911 turbo and a GTR are dd 10 second cars. They have the ready chassis and LC capability; this vehicle does not without extreme chassis modifications, very aggressive slicks and potential gearing changes. In other words it's either setup as a race / track car or a street car... in street form it cannot be a DD 10 second car... sorry.

im not talking bad about it just giving a suggestion because its always easier to work on a local car. besides from the videos on YouTube i dont really know anything about this kit

Well, I think that these types of products are what they are... I'd rather have a good kit that appears to work well and without the inflated price or inflated hype. Anyone making this purchase should accept that what they are buying is a new, relatively untested product, be capable of discerning a good from bad product or wait for others. This product however can be made to a certain standard yet people will be willing to give it a shot anyway, so no real reason to test it for 100k miles or anything like that imo.

im not talking bad about it just giving a suggestion because its always easier to work on a local car. besides from the videos on YouTube i dont really know anything about this kit

What more do you need to know? They've already said that this is NOT the production kit, and that before heavy testing begins the car is getting suspension & drivetrain mods (specifically an LSD & DEFIV lockdown kit). Tony has already specifically listed the turbo options for the Stage 3s, and if you have any additional questions you can A) read up on the turbos & their specs and B) speak with a knowledgeable tuner (ideally someone familiar with the N54) and determine what turbos best suit your performance goals.

You need to remember, Tony is selling the hardware. The actual performance your car may generate with the same product is completely dependent upon the tune you decide to run & who tunes the car.

im not talking bad about it just giving a suggestion because its always easier to work on a local car. besides from the videos on YouTube i dont really know anything about this kit

You never know anything for sure until someone puts serious time on any product.

That being said, this car has been beaten hard and hasn't had any issues. When Jake and I were there last week, we did over 100 dyno pulls in one day. That's not counting the session before or the one after that. PTF has also been e-tuning for a while with Tony, so there has been a lot of street driving and full gear pulls. At this point, the kit seems very stable. There's plenty of options for tuning, so some may want to try and push these kits even harder, or just enjoy a 600whp car with a reasonably mild tune.

Understood Dan. The HPF cars were stupid fast on the freeway - but an embarrassment from 2007-2012 on the strip (until ProEfi, Saad and Marcus).

This is not crucifying the ST or Vargas car. It works the same in every other market, blower or turbo kit.

Tuner shop cars do not count PERIOD - so I don't give a rip what the Vishnu car ran - ever. I look at 60-130 runs as a cop-out - IMO - for cars that cannot hook in the 1/4 mile so I ignore those numbers. However, I realize that I am biased to the 1320 footer and an old fart. With a tuner like Vishnu that is proven to have used hidden bladders of fuel in the past - who knows what was done to that car for the 10.8 run.

I saw many crappy 12's and 11's from 700+rwhp cars than I would like to see. It was embarrassing as a 46M owner. I expected deep 10's with that kind of power and money - as Marcus and SAAD later proved. I lived in Seattle from 1996-2009 and attended PIR and Pacific many a times.

Too much bias in the data from a shop vehicle - its a clear conflict of interest. By definition, the data is flawed. FACT.

Mike

p.s. That said, my money is on Vargas for drag-times.

THIS. I agree 100% shop cars don't mean squat until a customer can bolt the kit on, get a tune from someone who knows what they are doing and replicate the results. We literally took a pretty stock car and made a monster out of it and want people to be able to do the same thing, that is why I went twins, that is why I kept the vacuum controlled internal gates. I literally HATE internal gates, I would never run them on a custom turbo build, I laugh when people do it. This particular platform called for it because of the DME's vacuum control over the gates, period thats the only reason we went that way. The customer factor is another reason we stopped at our goal as we would like to see the pushing done by tuners and customers as their results are really the most valuable in the end.

Totally, agreed! Comparing shop cars is a waste of time as each shop would devote as much time/money/resources to build a car to gain notoriety and reputation.

Take English Racing for instance, they are a big tuner/builder in the Evo community. Tho these guys have their own 1000+whp shop car, they have time and time again built customers car's in a wide range of power levels with proven results. They did a great job building my 400+whp dd and their customer service was amazing. It's their ability to work and meet with their customer's needs that they are so well respected in that community.

Being a newcomer to the BMW forums, I find that n54 platform still has a long way to go. It's good that Vargas and Vishu along with BMS/Cobb and other tuners paving the way for our community and at some point in time, we will really know the full potential of what the n54 motor can really do. These are exciting times, no matter how much trolling/banter there are in this community (mainly over at e90).
I'm looking forward to the results.